Construction and demolition recyclers work in conditions
of dust, dirt, noise and danger. But the stress on
the equipment is worse. While grinders and other size
reducers ultimately can help turn lumps of concrete,
steel, wood and other materials into an easily recyclable
size, construction and demolition debris typically
starts off in a size format too large for efficient
size reduction.

That’s where mobile construction and demolition shears
come in. These powerful hydraulic cutters attach to
excavators, front-end loaders, skid steers and other
wheeled equipment, allowing construction and demolition
recyclers to bring tremendous shearing power wherever
it’s needed. They serve as replacements or additions
to other tools and techniques such as saws and cutting
torches. Items such as steel rebar, steel I-beams,
concrete block, bricks, poured concrete, pipe, railroad
ties, wire and even steel plates are all susceptible
to cutting with handy and efficient mobile C&D
shears.

“It’s a tremendous tool for dismantling a structure
such as a bridge, a parking ramp or buildings,” said
Curt Helmen, inside salesperson with Genesis Attachments
in Superior, Wisconsin. “Shears cut the material with
no open flame. They take the place of a number of torch
cutters, which is expensive and can even be dangerous.
A shear is much quieter and safer and much, much faster.”

Genesis’ shears draw their power from the hydraulic
system of an excavator or other equipment. The company
makes 11 sizes, each available with or without rotation
for a total of 22 different size models. “We fit machines
from skid steer loaders to excavators over 500,000
pounds in weight,” Helmen said.

Genesis’ XP Mobile Shear features a patented bolt-on
piercing tip that can be replaced without grinding
or welding. The cutting blades are four-way indexable
to provide four useable cutting edges. An auto-lube
system reduces maintenance, and speedy cycle times
increase the number of cuts-per-hour operators can
expect, the company said. Models range from the GXP
200, suitable for excavators 25,000 lbs. to 40,000
lbs. to the GXP 2500R which itself weighs 54,000 lbs.
and can be mounted on excavators from 240,000 lbs.
to 360,000 lbs. The “R” series of XP shears allow for
continuous 360 rotation.

Helmen said the company’s main challenges are unsafe
usage or poor maintenance. It addresses these issues,
in part, by offering extensive customer training in
safe operation and proper maintenance.

Business has slowed lately but is picking up, he said.
“We pretty much ride the same wave as the price of
scrap steel, which has strengthened in the past months,
so we are busier than we were, but not as busy as we
were a couple of years ago,” he said.

Rob Murray, product line manager at Stanley LaBounty
in Two Harbors, Minnesota, said the Company’s mobile
shears offer extended longevity to wear parts, as well
as cutting advantages, with the help of a patented
blade-lubrication system. “You’re not cutting dry metal
on dry metal so it cuts easier,” Murray explains.

The feature allows blade-lubricated versions of Stanley
Labounty’s extensive line of mobile shears to handle
tougher cutting jobs than similar non-lubricated models.
In addition, the lubrication reduces wear on the excavator
hydraulic system. “Some of that stems from the fact
that when your blades and jaws are lubricated, you
overcome binding of dry metal to dry metal, which creates
hydraulic spike pressures back to the excavator. That
is nonexistent in the lubricated model,” said Murray.
Stanley Labounty has offered Saber Lube since about
2006.

The Saber-Lube feature is available on most of Stanley’s
MSD Saber line of sheers. “But it’s not available on
the very small sheers that go on mini-excavators and
skid steers,” he said. Stanley Labounty MSD Saber shear
ranges from the MSD 7R for vehicles up to 15,000 lbs.,
to the MSD 9500-SL, a blade-lubricated design suitable
for excavators up to 170,000 lbs.

The company also employs special blade designs. “The
advantage on the blade patents is twofold,” said Murray.
“One is that it totally encompasses all the wear areas,
making those wear areas bolt-on surfaces. The second
advantage of that feature is that the way it’s designed,
it doesn’t depend on the bolt on retract, so you don’t
bend or break the bolts.”

Murray said Stanley Labounty’s business has also slowed
along with the market for recycled steel. “It hasn’t
totally rebounded yet, but the market has shown some
relief,” he said. “In 2010, it will still be coming
back from the low of last year.”

Through the downturn, demolition has been a relatively
healthy business for Stanley Labounty. “Basically,
all demolition has stayed fairly strong,” he said.
“I’m not going to say it was as strong as it was, but
it didn’t fall as hard as the scrap.”

Stanley Labounty’s history of innovation in the field
will continue, Murray said, with the future announcement
of significant refinements to its mobile shear product
line in the works. “We do have some new designs we’re
working on,” he said, “but nothing that we’re ready
to release.”